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Senate Committee Approves Subpoenas for Rove, et al; Baghdad Tattoos: Art & ID; CNN Interviews Bartender who was Attacked by Chicago Police Officer; Elizabeth Edwards Talks of Her Recurring Cancer; Grady's Anatomy; Using Children in Car Bombings in Iraq

Aired March 22, 2007 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Don Lemon, live in the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Kyra Phillips.

Well, for better or for worse, after almost 30 years of marriage, John and Elizabeth Edwards say they've seen tough times before and are fully prepared to face a new cancer crisis.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Top of the hour, a developing story we've been following all afternoon in the CNN NEWSROOM. Presidential hopeful John Edwards says his wife's cancer has returned, but he'll continue his run for the White House.

John and Elizabeth Edwards met with reporters just a short time ago. They said doctors just this week discovered a tumor on one of Ms. Edwards' ribs. Now, Elizabeth Edwards' doctor said the cancer is not curable, but it is treatable. The couple says they don't plan to put their lives on hold.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH EDWARDS, JOHN EDWARDS' WIFE: This is what happens to every cancer survivor. Not that you ultimately get a bad diagnosis, but every time you get something suspicious, you go into alarm mode, and that's all -- every cancer survivor that you know personally has exactly that experience of knowing that that pain they feel in their side, the ache they feel someplace, could be the sign of something worse. This turned out to be.

JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The campaign goes on. The campaign goes on strongly. Elizabeth and I have talked at length about this already, talked with our children about it.

Basically, as I mentioned earlier, we've been confronted with -- with these kind of traumas and struggles already in our lives, and we know from our previous experience that when this happens, you have a choice. You can go cower in the corner and hide, or you can be tough and go out there and stand up for what you believe in.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: And Mrs. Edwards' doctor says her cancer appears to be largely confined to bone. The next phase of treatment has not yet been determined.

We'll speak to a cancer expert in just a few minutes on that subject.

And we want to hear from you. What do you think of the Edwards' decision?

E-mail us. Our address is cnnnewsroom@cnn.com. We'll read some of your responses throughout the afternoon.

KEILAR: Unless something gives, the White House is one step closer to a major confrontation with Congress, which is trying to get to the bottom of the firings of eight federal prosecutors.

With the very latest on that, let's head to the White House now and CNN's Ed Henry.

Hi, Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Brianna.

You know, it's interesting. Tony Snow in his briefing today insisting that the White House is not spoiling for a fight, that they still think this can all be worked out, and it does not have to be a showdown. But as you noted, even as the Democrats continue to authorize potential subpoenas here, Tony Snow adding that they are not negotiating anymore, basically, that the initial offer from the White House is it. Basically, take it or leave it.

Snow saying that the White House believes Congress has no oversight over the White House directly, that they do have oversight of the Justice Department, but not the White House directly. So that this initial offer is a fair one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This initial position is a significant compromise in this sense. We could have said, no, we're not going to do it. We're not going to share White House deliberations. And we could have cited any number of legal precedents.

What we have said instead is that we're going to help you assemble every document and every -- and make available every individual both at the Justice Department and the White House that you need to hear from, and you'll be able to measure every single data point, every single communication.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: But a sore point still being Democrats complaining that the White House does not want to budge from its position, not only of no testimony under oath, no public testimony, but no transcript of any of those interviews or testimony, whatever it turns out to be. Tony Snow insisting today that White House staffers, if they do talk to Congress, would still be under an obligation to tell the truth, and they could be prosecuted if they lie, even if they don't taken a oath.

But the bottom line is, if there's no transcript, how would a U.S. attorney prosecute that? I pressed Tony Snow on that point. He insisted a prosecutor could still prosecute by getting a he said-she said thing going, but again, that transcript issue very much a sore subject -- Brianna.

KEILAR: And Jeffrey Toobin telling us yesterday, Ed, that that's how Martha Stewart actually was prosecuted, so -- but it definitely makes it more difficult. So we'll stay tuned to see what happens there.

Thanks, Ed.

HENRY: Thank you.

KEILAR: Ed Henry live from the White House for us.

LEMON: Calls for his political (INAUDIBLE) not withstanding. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is looking like a confident man. Today, Gonzales repeated that he won't resign even as the firings of eight federal prosecutors cause more problems for the White House.

With more from Washington, Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena.

Hi, Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Don.

Alberto Gonzales is in St. Louis today, and he's basically trying to get back to the business of being attorney general. He was there to discuss something called Project Safe Child. Now, that's a program to combat sexual abuse against children, but he could just not escape this U.S. attorney controversy.

He made himself available for some questions and, duh, was asked if he would resign. He said no. Instead, he says that he's going to continue to work with Congress to get lawmakers the information that they need.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I'm going to be going up to the Congress and providing further clarification about what happened here. We are working with Congress voluntarily. No United States attorney were fired for improper reasons, and that's the message that I'm going to deliver to the United States Congress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: Gonzales also met today with some U.S. attorneys, and this is the first of several meetings that he has planned around the country. He says that he intends to meet face to face with all 93 of them. And he's also expected to continue meeting informally with lawmakers. The president's recent endorsement has really helped on this from, but he's still got his work cut out for him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA), CHAIRMAN, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: I think there are still some big questions that Attorney General Gonzales has to answer about this resignation issue with the U.S. attorneys. For myself, I'm reserving judgment until I hear all the facts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: Now, Don, Gonzales said that he will be testifying on the Hill, but we do not have a date set for that yet. So that's where we stand.

LEMON: Yes. And you know what, Kelli? I may know the answer to my question, but how tough is it? Is it tough at all to get Justice Department officials to testify?

ARENA: No. Actually, unlike the White House, Justice has said, look, we're going to put everybody out, we're going to put them under oath. They don't have the same executive privilege conflict that the White House is facing.

So -- and even Kyle Sampson, who, as you know, used to be Gonzales' chief of staff, abruptly resigned, you know, in the midst of the controversy, even he has said, he, you know, will voluntarily come forward. They are having some schedule issues with him, but we should expect to see, you know, former and current Justice officials under oath before Congress. We're expecting sometime in April, probably.

LEMON: All right. Kelli Arena, thank you so much.

ARENA: You're welcome.

KEILAR: Welcome into Iraq. Three months into the job, the U.N. secretary-general is in Baghdad for the first time as secretary- general, and it didn't take long for a reality check.

The too close for comfort explosion happened a few yards from Ban Ki-moon's news conference. It was a mortar or rocket landing inside the Green Zone, which is a near-daily occurrence there in Baghdad. Thankfully, nobody was hurt. Ban's host, the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, he barely raised an eyebrow.

And the suspected leaders of one of the boldest and most elaborate attacks on American troops in Iraq are in custody. Think back to January in Karbala, south of Baghdad. English-speaking gunmen in American-style uniforms ambush a U.S. compound and kill five U.S. troops. American forces this week arrested two brothers, one of whom is a former spokesman for the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The military isn't saying much else, other than that the evidence against the brothers is "significant". LEMON: There is a curious trend that appears to be growing in Baghdad -- tattoos. People in America, young and old, choose skin art for self-expression or whatever reason, but sadly in Baghdad, though, there is a more practical purpose for it.

Our Kyra Phillips joins me to explain that.

Hi, Kyra.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there.

Believe it or not, with teens, Don, dragons and skulls, well, those are the popular tattoos. But it's not just a fashion trend here in Iraq that's coming from the West. It's also a bit of a courtesy call for a grieving family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS (voice over): Under Saddam Hussein, Hussam could have been killed for this. It was considered too American, and in conservative Islam, haram (ph), a desecration of god's creation.

"Iraqis were scared to have tattoos," he tells me. "Now they have freedom and feel free to get tattoos. They are more open to Western culture."

Hussam still operates underground, and it's worth it. Business is booming. This bodyguard-turned-tattoo-artist makes $25 to $150 per tattoo. "I love this career," he tells me, "because my art lasts forever."

(on camera): Hossein (ph), are you nervous? A little bit?

(voice over): Twenty-year-old Hossein (ph) is getting his first tattoo, a "D" right over his heart. "D" is for Doha (ph), his girlfriend.

(on camera): Does Doha (ph) know you're doing this?

(voice over): He explains, "After we get married, I'll show her what I did for her."

(on camera): What if you don't marry Doha (ph)?

(voice over): "Oh, I will. It's our destiny."

Hossein's (ph) act of love is heartwarming, but it also has an extremely disturbing purpose. As the car bombs and kidnappings continue to haunt Iraqis, so do the number of unidentified dead bodies. Tattoos are also a form of I.D.

"My friend was killed in an explosion, his face charred by the fire," Hossein (ph) tells me. "The only way his family could recognize him was by his tattoo."

(on camera): God forbid anything happens to you, but is this another way for your family to identify you if something were to go wrong?

(voice over): "Yes, of course. I'll show it to my family, so they'll know I have a mark on my body in case something bad happens to me."

From bombs to body art, these Iraqis flip through all of Hussam's tattoo designs -- a butterfly, a snake, or a lover's initial. It's a small, guilty pleasure for a country struggling to figure out its newfound freedoms.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Now, Don, here's a little bit of interesting history. We got some video of some of the women out in Iraq at some of the various refugee camps, and also some of the small villages, and you will see that they actually have their own tattoos that they did on their faces, lines on the chin, dots on the cheeks.

The women, it's part of cultural tradition, pride. They think it has therapeutic type of healing capabilities. Also, there's a little bit of magical powers, they believe, through these tattoos.

The men also have them on their hands, dots on their hands. Saddam Hussein even had one, three blue dots close to his wrist to show a bit of cultural pride, tribal pride. It's supposed to show that you come from a humble origin.

So it's interesting to see the technique, the Western technique becoming popular and having sort of a twofold mission. But there's a lot of history with tattoos and what it has meant to the Iraqi people, and how it has given them pride in many ways among each other in the villages.

LEMON: So, Kyra, I know that in some cultures, and you know as well, it's part of the culture, part of the history. Now, I know that you said that it shows, like, pride. How long has this been going on? Is this a new fad, or is this something that's historical for Iraqis?

PHILLIPS: Oh, it's very much historical. You go into these villages and some of the women believe that the tattoos have helped them with pregnancy, helped them with problems within their village. So there are stories behind those tattoos.

So, it's interesting, how it's always sort of been here, but now it's even become more popular because -- for decoration, for fashion trend, and, unfortunately, for the sad reality there are so many -- I mean, just, for example, today, I was getting word that there were 25 bodies found throughout Iraq. Nobody knows who they are. They are unidentified.

So these tattoos are helping some of these families identify bodies. The most recent deaths, unfortunately.

LEMON: Kyra Phillips in Baghdad.

Thank you so much, Kyra. And Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is scheduled to brief reporters today at the Pentagon. We've been telling you about that. That's expected to happen at about 2:45 Eastern. We plan to carry it for you live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J. EDWARDS: You do have a choice. You can go cower in the corner and hide, or you can be tough and go out there and stand up for what you believe in. And both of us are committed to the cause. We're committed to changing this country that we love so much. And we have no intention of cowering in the corner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: In sickness and in health, the Edwards campaign goes on. It's our top story in the CNN NEWSROOM. We're going to speak to a cancer expert about the latest diagnosis next.

LEMON: Plus, new information in that terror plot in London, July of 2005, that killed 52 people. Well, three men have been arrested just a short time ago. We'll give you details on that coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It is just after quarter past the hour, and here are a few of the stories we're working here right in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The U.N. secretary-general's first visit to Baghdad is one he will remember. Insurgents fired mortar rounds at Ban Ki-moon's news conference earlier today, and no one was hurt.

Congress is investigating the possible bad deeds of high-risk mortgage lenders involved in a run of foreclosures.

And Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, says her breast cancer has spread to a rib. But the couple says Edwards' campaign for the White House will continue.

KEILAR: Now, John and Elizabeth Edwards have been through challenges before. In almost 30 years of marriage, they lost their oldest child in a car accident in 1996, and in the final days of the 2004 presidential campaign, Mrs. Edwards learned that she had breast cancer. She wrote about both of these tough times in a book called "Saving Graces," and she talked about them last October with CNN's Soledad O'Brien.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

E. EDWARDS: This is after I had found out that I had cancer. I said, "I really was at peace about the disease. I've sometimes talked about the strange gift that comes with the awful tragedy of losing a child. I had already been through the worst, I believe. We all had. And I had the gift of knowing that nothing will ever be as bad as that." "The worst day of my life had already come. And I knew, too, that I had a chance to beat this, a chance my son never had, a chance we never had to save him."

O'BRIEN: He was 16 years old.

E. EDWARDS: Sixteen.

O'BRIEN: He died in an automobile accident.

E. EDWARDS: He did.

O'BRIEN: The last words you said to him was, "I love you."

E. EDWARDS: "I love you." That was the way we ended our phone conversations. So, you know, I'm glad they were -- it was, because, of course, I -- there was no way for me to know that that was the last conversation. I was actually calling him in the morning, trying to make certain he was out of bed when I was not there to make sure he got to school on time.

O'BRIEN: How do you go on? I mean I've interviewed mothers who have lost children over the years and I'm just baffled about how they even get out of bed in the morning.

E. EDWARDS: I mean, it helped to have a surviving child. That gave you a reason to get up, a reason to try to -- to make each day as happy as possible, although as I write in the book, that, you know, it was a long time that happy was just not within any -- within reach.

And then you realize that you don't want the legacy of this child to be these wrecks of a parent -- of parents that he left behind. You want the legacy to be the positive -- as positive as the boy himself. And so you feel an obligation to the memory. And that helps you focus on positive things, do positive things, and then ultimately try to find joy in your life again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And that was Elizabeth Edwards on "AMERICAN MORNING" with Soledad O'Brien in 2006, October of 2006.

We want to hear from you. What do you think of Edwards' decision?

E-mail us. The address is cnnnewsroom@cnn.com. And we'll read some of your responses throughout the afternoon right here in the CNN NEWSROOM -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Joining us now to talk more about Elizabeth Edwards' latest health challenge, Dr. Otis Brawley. He's a leading cancer specialist at Emory University here in Atlanta.

And, you know, she talks about how she had cracked a rib, and that's why she went in to her doctor, and so she had this unrelated pain. And then she took an X-ray, and that's when they found something suspicious in the right side of her rib cage. Let's listen to what she says, and then I'll ask you about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

E. EDWARDS: I'm also completely asymptomatic. I'm actually very lucky that I -- that I cracked this rib, because if I hadn't cracked it, I wouldn't have gotten the chest X-ray that identified the suspicious place, and something now, which, you know, is at least a scenario about which we can be reasonably optimistic might not have been the case two years from now or three, when I became symptomatic. The only thing that hurts me on my whole body is my rib right here, and honestly, I bless it, because that's the reason that I'm able to stand before you with a smile.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So, she says she's lucky. And does this happen a lot, where patients go in for one thing, and then it's discovered that they have cancer?

DR. OTIS BRAWLEY, WINSHIP CANCER INST., EMORY UNIV.: It really does happen quite often. And she really is lucky that she found it at this state. She's going to need additional therapy. She has made statements that she wants to think of this as diabetes, where it's a long-term illness. I think that's very healthy, and I think she's doing something very positive for other people with breast cancer.

KEILAR: Now, let's talk also about she's going on the campaign trail. This has not been called off, it has not been suspended. Let's listen to her talking about how she's going to continue on.

BRAWLEY: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

E. EDWARDS: I'm absolutely ready for this. I'm ready for that.

I mean, honestly, I have -- I have all energy. I mean, one of the reasons to do a press conference as opposed to a press release is that you can see, I mean, I don't look sickly, I don't feel sickly. And, you know, I'm as ready as any person can be for that. I mean, you know how grueling it is in general.

There is a likelihood that some of the medications that I will be taking will at sometimes make me tired. I have, as you all well know -- and a lot of you know -- actually know that my younger children, 6 and 8-year-old -- if I get tired, I actually expect they are going to be the reason, as opposed to the medications that Dr. Kerry (ph) is going to be giving me. But there's a chance that both of them will make me tired sometimes, and so sometimes I'll step back to sort of regain my energy.

But I'm also 57, you know. So I might get a little tired. But right now I don't feel any of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We'll talk about those medications in a second, but let's first talk about the riggers of the campaign.

She looks great. For 57, she looks excellent. She's got that good attitude, like you mentioned, but she has two kids. And when you're on the campaign trail, you're going on not enough sleep, it's fair to say.

I mean, how does someone who is dealing with this type of cancer handle that? Is this a good move?

BRAWLEY: Well, it's going to be a real challenge for her, because she is going to be tired. There are going to be some days that are going to be much better than other days.

It's also important for people who are sick like this to keep doing what they like to do. That's, perhaps, as good a therapy as some of the drugs that we give.

KEILAR: All right. So this could be good medicine for her, staying on task.

BRAWLEY: That's right.

KEILAR: All right. Let's talk about the medications that she might be on.

Now, she had, I believe, chemo and radiation before for her last bout of breast cancer, but what might her therapy be this time?

BRAWLEY: Her therapy is going to undoubtedly be a bunch of chemotherapy. Our approach to someone who is in this state -- and she probably has disease elsewhere beside her rib. The rib is the first place that we found it.

Our approach is generally to give people chemotherapy, hopefully chemotherapy that's not going to cause a lot of side-effects, and try to treat this cancer like a smoldering fire. She may actually even have the cancer go away, in which case we'll stop the chemotherapy and watch her for a while, and then maybe start it up.

Also, if she has a lot of pain from one particular area, we may ask the radiation oncologist to radiate that particular area. Not with cure as intent, but with the intention of relieving some of the pain.

KEILAR: Now, you actually know her oncologist, who we heard from today.

BRAWLEY: Yes. Lisa Kerry (ph) from the University of North Carolina is a wonderful woman and a wonderful medical oncologist. She's in great hands.

KEILAR: All right. Well, we certainly have her fingers crossed for the Edwards, and we wish them the best as they take on really this momentous task of going on the campaign trail.

Thank you so much, Dr. Otis Brawley, for being with us. BRAWLEY: It's my pleasure. My pleasure.

KEILAR: Don.

LEMON: And in our next hour, we'll hear from a breast cancer survivor right here in the CNN family. Our very own Jill Dougherty, she shares her struggle and that of her mother's, who faced cancer twice.

And from the NEWSROOM to the operating room...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know every Monday I've got my time (ph). I have my O.R. and it's all ready for me to go.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta. I'm an attending of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: There he is. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes us inside "Grady's Anatomy" straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

LEMON: The next half hour of the CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

Hello, I'm Don Lemon, live in the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Kyra Phillips. Your cancer is back, that's what no one ever wants to hear. But can you imagine, facing that fight while your husband is running for president? Our political analyst Bill Schneider has more on the Edwards' decision to keep the campaigning going. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

John Edwards says he's still a presidential candidate and Elizabeth Edwards says she agrees her husband should stay in the race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH EDWARDS, JOHN EDWARDS' WIFE: It's not about John Edwards. If it were, you know, it would be easy to give it up honestly, and I think he would give it up in a second, and I would give it up, although honestly there's no health reason why we should. But they are not the reason and it's the people that John met in the last two years, working in the Poverty Center and the people he met as he went overseas, it's the people that I met in 2003 and 2004. I described it one time, every event I ever did, someone cried on my shoulder about the state of their life. You know? Is this a hardship for us, yes, it's yet another hurdle. But I've seen people who are in real desperate shape who don't, first of all, have the wonderful support that I have. And have no place to turn. And it's unbelievably important that we get this election right. And in my view, and, of course, you all can recognize, I'm probably prejudiced in this, there is nobody who is offering people of this country more positive and delineated vision about where we can go than John, and so that's why it's important. It's important that American people have the opportunity to have a president like him, and I can't deprive them of that just because I want to sit home, feeling perfectly well, but wanting his company.

JOHN EDWARDS, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If I can say that I want to add something that Elizabeth can't say, because she would never do, this. Yesterday afternoon when were in the hospital with Lisa and getting these results, it was not a good day for us.

And in the midst of all that, we had a, just the of two us, no one else was there, a conversation about what this all means. And not shockingly, to anyone that knows Elizabeth, all she wanted to talk about were me, our children, first, me, and the country. And there was no one else there, and she wasn't doing this for show. It was just me. I was the only person there. Not a word about her. No concern about her. This is the most extraordinarily unselfish woman I have ever known.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We're going to talk more now about the political impact of today's news, and for that we're going to bring in our Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider, from Washington. Now, of course, Bill, everyone is wishing Elizabeth Edwards and her family the best, as she faces a cancer battle head on again, but it really begs the question, how is this going to affect her husband's campaign?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: She's always been regarded as her husband's greatest asset and that's what she was today. She was, simply by being there, to make the statement personally, a personal statement of confidence in her husband in his campaign, in his mission, her willingness to stand by his side. I think that was a major political statement, that she's able to do this, that he's carrying on with her approval and with her consent, that makes a very strong statement, because her courage and her bravery, I think, came through.

KEILAR: And, let's catch up now, bill, on our most recent polling about where Edwards stands in the Democratic field here.

SCHNEIDER: He's one of the top three Democratic candidates, as you can see. The front runner is Senator Clinton, followed by Senator Obama, from Illinois. Edwards is behind both of them. Slightly behind Al Gore, who, of course, is not a candidate. He said he has no plans to run. If he were to run, he'd about tied with Edwards.

But Edwards is one of the top three active candidates in the campaign. All the polls have been showing that. Some polls show him doing very well, especially well in one of the early contests in Iowa, which is a contest, he hopes, he's counting on winning.

KEILAR: And in 2004, it was very obvious John Edwards was perhaps the most personable candidate, this beautiful family. Is this announcement going to get voters to take a closer, fresher look at him?

SCHNEIDER: Well, I can tell you that, you heard on the campaign trail in 2004, I heard it when I was in New Hampshire last week, that when Edwards campaigned, people liked him personally. They admired him. He had a very strong personal appeal, it was very powerful.

The chairman of the Democratic party of New Hampshire said people came to the polling places, they voted for Kerry, who won the New Hampshire primary, but they wanted to write John Edwards name in for vice president, and of course, he ended up as the running mate for John Kerry for vice president. He's a popular campaigner, partly because of his very attractive family and the courage and many tests they had faced and including, as they mentioned today, the loss about 10 years ago of their oldest son.

KEILAR: Yes, they've certainly been through quite a bit, Bill. Bill Schneider, our senior political analyst live for us in Washington. Thanks, Bill.

LEMON: A major American city being compared to Iraq? We'll find out what a Congressman said that set off a storm.

And the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, is scheduled to brief reporters today at the Pentagon. That's at 2:45 Eastern, and we will certainly carry it for you live, if it happens on time, right here, CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Long hours, constant stress, life-and-death responsibilities. Everyday realities for medical residents working in hospitals across the country. It's something CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta knows a lot about.

When he's not in the NEWSROOM, Sanjay's often in the operating room at Grady Memorial Hospital, right here in Atlanta, as an attending physician, training resident. This weekend, he takes us behind the scenes of "Grady's Anatomy" and here's a preview of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Samson, how are you doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm fine, sir, how about yourself?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm living the dream.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I know, every Monday, I got my time. I have my O.R., and it's all ready for me to go.

I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, I'm an attending of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital.

(voice over) My job is to perform operations and take care of patients, but simultaneously, and in some ways, I think equally as importantly, to train residents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks great.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When an attending neurosurgeon hands you the scalpel, you are more excited than nervous. My name is Lou Timmyallen (ph) I'm a fifth year neurosurgeon resident at Grady Memorial Hospital.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Apprehension will happen when I do the pedicle (ph) screw right near the spinal cord. I don't know if that apprehension will ever go away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good God. She is really busted up there.

GUPTA (on camera): I'm glad to hear that Lou was nervous. I'm nervous. I think everybody should be nervous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're losing too much blood.

GUPTA (voice over): I think if you are not nervous, you might be a little bit too cocky and I think that's the biggest enemy of all.

GUPTA (on camera): This patient was in a deer stand 15 to 20 feet up in the air. And the deer stand must have given way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You sort of get a sense of all the bones, they are pretty nice and all of a sudden the bone is just gone, crushed.

GUPTA: We're bracing ourselves for Pandora's Box that we open every time we go into surgery. We try and position everything perfectly. We try to study all the films perfectly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It doesn't give me the soft and fuzzy feeling.

GUPTA: We can't control what variations of anatomy may be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me another weapon. I'll try this one again.

GUPTA: A lot of times no one even has to say a word in that operating room. I know exactly what's going through their minds. And you can lose feeling at any moment without him saying a word, I know exactly what's going through his head, because I was there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not going to put any screws right there, Lou? Right, Lou?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I'm trying to expose it through, right now. GUPTA: As a young neurosurgeon, you want to say, what would I do if I didn't have a net? But I can tell you, it's nice to have a net, because Sanjay will tell you how many jams he's gotten me out of.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that a seven?

GUPTA: The goal to get him mobilized and up to a wheelchair, and he will not walk again, he's a paraplegic, but we want to get him to a wheelchair and make sure he continues to have the use of his arms.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's going to work, Sanjay.

GUPTA: That case could not have gone any better. That was, that's what we show up to work for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we're going to be in good shape here. The arms.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Seeing that little bit, I want to see a lot more of that, it looks very interesting. "Grady's Anatomy" is a special investigation, and it premieres Saturday night at 8:00 P.M. Eastern, only on CNN.

KEILAR: A Republican Congressman from Michigan is under fire for comparing Detroit to Iraq. In a radio interview, Tim Walburg (ph) said returning troops have told him that most of Iraq is reasonably under control, at least as well as, quote, "Detroit or Chicago or any of our other big cities. That's an encouraging sign" unquote.

Detroit's mayor's office and the state Democratic party are not pleased. The mayor's spokesman calls the comparison absurd.

LEMON: Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, scheduled to brief reporters today at the Pentagon. That's at 2:45 Eastern, and we plan to carry it for you live right here on CNN. More NEWSROOM, in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, we're going to take you live to Washington in just a bit. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is supposed to brief reporters, not exactly sure what he's going to talk about, absolutely sure, though, probably the Iraq war will come up, but secretary of defense, a live briefing scheduled for 2:45. Appears he's running just a little bit late. As soon as that happens, we'll bring it right here to you live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

KEILAR: Bombings, shootings, innocent lives cut brutally short, it's all old news in Iraq, but some insurgents are sinking to a new low. Sacrificing children in car bombings.

More now from CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On the already violent streets of Iraq, the U.S. military was horrified by what happened at a busy Eastern Baghdad marketplace on Sunday.

MAJ. GEN. MICHAEL BARBERO: We saw a vehicle with two children in the back seat. Come up to one of our checkpoints, get stopped by our folks, children in the back seat, lower suspicion, we let it move through. They parked the vehicle, and the adults run out and detonated with the children in the back.

STARR: And in Al Anbar (ph) Province in the west.

BARBERO: Over the weekend we had three suicide bombers detonate trucks loaded with chlorine in Al Anbar Province.

STARR: That makes six chlorine attacks since January and a very mixed picture whether the security crackdown around Baghdad is working.

Sectarian killings are down, but suicide and car-bomb attacks are not.

The brutality and the ruthless nature of this enemy hasn't changed. They are just interested in slaughtering Iraqi civilians to meet their ends.

STARR: There are signs of progress. Iraqi security forces are stepping up, for the first time, units now arriving in Baghdad are fully ready to fight. But the man who oversees billions of dollars of contracts to rebuild Iraq sounded his own dire warning on Capitol Hill, that there are many threats facing that country.

STUART W. BOWEN JR., INSPECTOR GEN. FOR RECONSTRUCTION: Corruption within the Iraqi government is a serious problem, inhibiting all progress in Iraq. We have called it the second insurgency in our reports.

STARR: Some other positive signs? General Barbaros said that hundreds of Iraqi families are now returning to the country. And on the streets of Baghdad, U.S. troops are getting a record number of tips from Iraqi civilians about insurgents' activities.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, and Pentagon briefing room, live right there. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates expected to brief reporters in just a short time. We did see a little bit of activity. Gave us either the one or two minute warning just about 30 seconds ago. Whatever he has to say, we'll bring it to you live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Don't go away. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: New details into the NEWSROOM on the Chicago bartender beating that was caught on videotape. Prosecutors are looking into whether the victim may have been threatened not to pursue charges against her alleged attacker, who, for now, is still a Chicago police officer.

CNN's Keith Oppenheim has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The regulars gathered at this neighborhood bar in Chicago, while a security camera recorded tape. In this surveillance video, notice the man in the upper right corner of your screen. The bartender, Karolina, didn't know it at the time, but that customer was an off-duty Chicago police officer. Karolina would give her first name only, but agreed to review the tape with me.

KAROLINA, BARTENDER: It seems that I've been telling him but I'm not going to serve him anymore.

OPPENHEIM (on camera): Because you are concerned that he's getting wasted.

KAROLINA: Yes, exactly.

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): He has since been identified as Officer Anthony Abbate. At one point, Abbate surprises Karolina and comes around to her side of the bar, but when a body bumps into the bar, he explodes.

He punches her repeatedly. Keep in mind, according to prosecutors, Abbate is 6'1 and 250 pounds. Karolina says she's 5'4 and 130 pounds. As frightened bystanders keep a distance, Officer Abbate walks away. Karolina gets up, despite multiple hits to her head, back and ribs.

DAVID NAVARRO, ASST. COOK COUNTY STATE'S ATTY: That is one of the most brutal and savage attacks that I've ever seen caught on tape.

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): Prosecutors have charged Officer Abbate with aggravated assault, a felony, Abbate's attornies did not return CNN's calls.

(on camera): Karolina, what is your reaction that the person who beat you is a police officer?

KAROLINA: Actually, I couldn't believe. I was led police is to serve and protect, not to beat up people.

OPPENHEIM: Chicago police released a statement about Officer Abbate which said, "A recommendation for termination is expected, pending the completion of the internal investigation."

Karolina says she's left with bad headaches, and as you might imagine, bad memories from what happened in this bar.

Keith Oppenheim, CNN, Chicago. (END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: So would you have jumped in to help? That's what CNN.com is asking on the quick vote today. And so far, a lot of you are feeling pretty brave. Right now, 92 percent of you say, yes, you would step in and help out. Eight percent of you say you wouldn't.

LEMON: Yes, that was a question, why didn't those people step in that were standing around. We weren't there, so we don't know.

KEILAR: We weren't there, but it's certainly interesting to see maybe why people don't.

LEMON: Yes, absolutely. All right, a political whodunit is solved, Hillary Clinton attack ad-maker revealed in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Plus this, as we go to break, a check of the market. The DOW is up right now, just about an hour left before the trading day ends.

The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A plea from Lisa Nowak through her attorneys, the fired and scandalized astronaut pleaded not guilty this morning to charges that she tried to assault the new flame of her ex-boyfriend. Nowak's trial on charges of attempted kidnapping, battery and armed burglary with a motor vehicle is set for July 30th. She did not appear at today's arraignment in Florida.

KEILAR: Today's celebrity mugshot taken last night in Jupiter, Florida, that there is St. Louis Cardinals manager, Tony La Russa. You will not believe this, but he was discovered inside his SUV at a stoplight, sleeping while the light changed over and over. Police managed to wake him up and arrest him on suspicion of drunk driving. Now, he reportedly tested above the legal limit for alcohol and is out on bond. Jupiter is the spring training site for La Russa's Cardinals, the reigning World Series Champions.

LEMON: A South Carolina mother could lose custody of her obese son. The state says he's got to lose some weight. Next hour on the CNN NEWSROOM starts in just one minute.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Eating healthy is something many of us try to do but understanding portions and calories can be very confusing. CNN.com has a few pointers to help you stay on the right track.

The Centers for Diease Control says that the average American does not eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables per day. You can find out just how much you should be eating by checking out this gallery ...

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